The issue we are most concerned about is the lack of urgency from federal officials about replacing the John H. Wood Jr. U.S. Courthouse, a repurposed theater from HemisFair ’68.

That’s right. A theater.

Even with its remodeling, the courthouse was never meant to handle such high volumes of criminal defendants, many of whom are tied to the drug trade and represent homeland security threats.

Case in point: members of the Juárez Cartel who recently were taken to the San Antonio courthouse.

The Western District of Texas is consistently one of the busiest districts in the judiciary, yet, inexplicably, San Antonio has fallen in federal rankings for courthouse projects. It once was ranked third in terms of priority but is now eighth.

“In the current paradigm for Congress, being ranked eighth is a death sentence for the San Antonio courthouse,” City Councilman Ron Nirenberg told us. “We have no sally port for prisoners who are probably the highest-profile detainees with regard to homeland security. The court itself takes in cases that are national security issues. Drug cartel cases. Terrorism from across the border. Issues that concern not only San Antonians but every American.”

There are two issues at play here. One is a change in how courthouse projects are ranked. The other is an unwillingness from Congress to fund federal courthouse projects.

Let’s start with the ranking. In 2013, the General Accountability Office released a report examining how courthouse projects are ranked. It diminished security and case numbers, while giving more weight to courtroom space, among other concerns. When the Administrative Office of the Courts released its new rankings, San Antonio had fallen down the ladder.

That wouldn’t matter so much if these projects were funded.

“I see that lowering of our priority as one of the culprits,” U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett told us. “But the other one is basically the House (financial services) bill doesn’t fund any projects.”

This is where congressional gridlock hits home.

To break the gridlock, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has introduced a bill for emergency funding. He has the full bipartisan support of San Antonio’s congressional delegation. But his bill will also need support from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a former judge, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Majority Whip. This is not pork: pointless government spending for questionable projects. This is addressing a judicial security emergency.

There are ramifications to inaction beyond homeland security concerns and lead in the drinking water. As time goes on, the cost of a new courthouse rises. In 2012, when San Antonio ranked fifth in courthouse urgency, the cost was estimated at $117.4 million. Now that we are ranked eighth, the cost is estimated at $134.6 million.

The Wood courthouse is also in the midst of the Hemisfair Park redesign. While Hemisfair’s CEO Andres Andujar said he can plan around the courthouse, he also has concerns about having families so close to defendants with cartel ties in a courthouse that doesn’t even have a sally port, or secured entryway.

Inaction also spills into plans to revitalize the city’s core. The new courthouse would be built at the site of the city’s former Police Department headquarters on Nueva Street as part of a land swap. The city has already torn down that site and done its part to make the swap happen. Now we have a vacant lot at a time when officials are working so hard to activate the urban core. How long will the city wait until moving on with other ways to fill that vacant land?

It’s outrageous that our federal courthouse has become less of a priority. We call on Cornyn to make it a personal priority to change that.